<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Watch Out For Your Back by mollyinthewater</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29759979">Watch Out For Your Back</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mollyinthewater/pseuds/mollyinthewater'>mollyinthewater</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>SilverV Scenes [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Female V (Cyberpunk 2077), Hurt/Comfort, Johnny Silverhand Has a Body, Soft Johnny Silverhand, Soft V (Cyberpunk 2077), Whump</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:21:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,548</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29759979</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mollyinthewater/pseuds/mollyinthewater</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>V’s waiting for Johnny to pick her up for a date when Placide finds her, wanting to flatline her after what she had done to the Voodoo Boys a month ago. Cue Johnny becoming her knight in shining armor—well, more like knight with a shining arm, but close enough.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Johnny Silverhand/Female V, Johnny Silverhand/V</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>SilverV Scenes [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2177871</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Watch Out For Your Back</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>trigger warning for violence and choking!! proceed with caution, friends &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“So, how were the kids?” V asked, twirling a strand of her hair in her finger as she leaned against the dark brick wall of the store behind her. Her light pink lips were curled up in a sweet smile as she stared at the image of her boyfriend on the holo.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, y’know, bratty as ever,” Johnny answered, his tone nonchalant and a smirk plastered on his face. V rolled her eyes at that, shaking her head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They’re not </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> bad, Johnny,” V said, remembering what it was like when she first met Kerry’s kids. The younger one, Kim, was definitely a good kid, always trying her best to behave, but the older one, Ted, definitely liked to push other people’s buttons. In a way, he reminded V of Johnny. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hm. Yeah, guess Kerry didn’t spawn the worst little shits,” Johnny replied, causing V to let out a mix of a scoff and a laugh. A mischievous glint grew in his eyes before he continued speaking. “Now you </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> owe me.” V glanced at him in the holo, giving him a pitiful look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know, I know, I’m sorry,” V told him. They were going to have a date earlier, but a job had come up, so V had been forced to reschedule their outing until later in the day, which was now. In the meantime, she had encouraged Johnny to go and visit Kerry, knowing that it was good for them to be spending time together. Johnny had changed so much after everything, so now it was like he and Kerry could really be friends. It was nice for V to see them getting along so well, finding their amiable behavior with each other undeniably sweet. “You know what they say, hon, duty calls and all that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“An’ what about when your boyfriend calls, huh? He ain’t as important as your work?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmmm,” V hummed, putting on a fake, thoughtful expression and turning her eyes up to the sunny blue sky. “Lemme think.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You–”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m kidding, Johnny,” V laughed out, cutting Johnny off from whatever sarcastic remark he was planning on saying. “Of course you’re just as important, </span>
  <em>
    <span>more</span>
  </em>
  <span> important, in fact, though I don’t think your ego really needs that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Johnny smiled widely at that, his face smug and full of pride. “That’s what I like to hear, sweetheart. See ya in a few.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“See ya,” V said, a blush creeping up on her face as Johnny clicked off the call. Even after officially dating him for a few weeks now, the girl could never get used to him talking to her so sweetly and calling her pet names like that. It never failed to make her turn into mush, a lovely feeling exploding in her chest, and she knew Johnny knew it, too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The brunette let out a long exhale, a small smile still on her face as she stood, her light skin soaking up the sun. It felt so nice to be relaxing like this and going out with Johnny after the long job she had just done. She had been hired to plant some malware in a computer that belonged to some Animals, and though she remained hidden the whole time, she still had to knock some of them out in order to get to the room with the computer in it. It took a lot of strength to not only take them out—non-lethally, of course—but to run back and forth, nearly checking every second if there was anyone near her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>V needed this, to spend some time just having fun and being with Johnny. What else could she ask for after a day of hard work?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Some time passed as V waited, going through some of her messages and absentmindedly tapping her hands against the top of her thighs to an off beat. Judy had asked her to come over tomorrow and help her try out some new invention of hers, something about a chip that could predict other people’s movements in fights. And then Panam had invited her and Johnny to some bonfire the Aldecaldos were having over the weekend—even though they weren’t Nomads, V had grown close with the group, and Saul approved her presence and even Johnny’s, despite the man’s frequent complaints and jokes about the Nomad lifestyle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before V could send the response she had just typed out, a loud noise interrupted her. The girl flinched sharply, jumping off of the wall and whipping around towards the alleyway next to her. No one near her on the sidewalk had seemed to hear the noise, but V was sure that she perceived some kind of loud crash.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She squinted, using her optics to try and see more clearly down the shadowy path. V didn’t see anything, however, including any possible source of the noise. Normally, she would’ve let it go, believing that she hadn’t really heard anything or that it was nothing, but the sudden formation of goosebumps on her skin made her reject the option. She recognized the feeling, a pair of eyes pointed right at her, and she couldn’t stop herself from slowly walking into the alley.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello? Someone there?” V called out, taking a few steps into the alleyway with her hand hovering over the iron on her hip. She couldn’t help herself from feeling so paranoid. After all, over the last month, she had become practically Night City’s most famous merc. Once word got out about her flatlining Adam Smasher and how she had a lot to do with bringing the legendary Johnny Silverhand back to life, her popularity had spiked greatly. Now she was either being given any and every kind of job or a very large target on her back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>V turned around, staring up at the roofs of the fairly short buildings surrounding her. “If you’re hiding, I’m just gonna find you eventually.” All that she was answered with was silence, and after a few more seconds, she sighed and let her hands fall back against her sides.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jesus, maybe she </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> getting too paranoid. She really needed a break, huh?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>V shook her head, ready to walk back out to the sidewalk where Johnny would surely be in a few minutes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But then all she could do was gasp and fall to her knees as a sudden and </span>
  <em>
    <span>very intense</span>
  </em>
  <span> pain shot through her head. Her eyes were wide open as screams of agony tried to leave her throat, but nothing came out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>V’s vision was glitching horribly as she felt a hand roughly pull her backwards, causing her to fall against the rough concrete. She writhed in pain, trying to muster up even the smallest amount of strength, but it felt difficult to do so as she was swiftly kicked in the stomach twice. She unconsciously wretched at the contact, nothing leaving her mouth but tears forming in her eyes from the burning sensation the kicks left behind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Abruptly, the merc was yanked up off of the ground, being forced up onto her legs with one hand under her left upper arm and what felt like a forearm being pressed against her upper back. Her front was slammed against the rugged wall, her head smacking against it with a </span>
  <em>
    <span>crack </span>
  </em>
  <span>that she could barely hear, the noise reverberating in her skull. The blow seemed to knock some focus into her, though, V finally able to bring herself to pull her knife out of her jeans. She swung her right arm backwards, blindly stabbing at her attacker as they held her against the building.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She could sense the connection between skin and blade—definitely not a stab, but rather a slice against uncovered skin—but before she could do any more damage, the knife was wrenched out of her hand, most likely being thrown down. The worst was yet to come, though, as her arm, still outstretched, was twisted violently, a silent howl of pain escaping V as the tears in her eyes overflowed and trailed down her cheeks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A large hand gripped tightly onto her brown locks before bashing her face once, twice against the wall. The girl could feel blood dripping out of her nose as her hair was let go and she was flipped around, the taste of copper floating on her lips. Before she had the chance to spit out the metallic liquid, two hands wrapped themselves around her throat, yanking her whole body up and shoving her even harder against the wall.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>V’s feet were no longer on the ground, with the tips of her shoes pointing downwards in a desperate attempt to reconnect with the dirty surface beneath her. Her left arm sluggishly reached up, finding purchase in one of the thick arms holding her up but lacking the strength to pull it off of her. She tried to move her right arm, but all that resulted in was more pain, sparks practically spreading through her body. She kicked her feet out, her vision still too messed up to allow her to see the person and oxygen beginning to leave her body as she was being choked. One hand instantly let go of her throat only to take hold of her left ankle and squeeze it so tight that she could practically feel her bones being broken.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sobs left V as her leg was released, both hands once again choking her as her breaths grew more and more shallow, her arm growing too weak to be raised anymore. Her ruined vision was becoming dark, blackness enveloping it as her eyes trailed upwards and she could feel her blood pumping in her ears. The pain that had wrapped itself around her body was being numbed, all sensations escaping her grasp and leaving her with nothing but the feeling of being drowned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, as soon as the water had filled up her lungs, it was poured out. The hands around her neck slackened, disappearing and causing V to fall to the ground. Coughs wracked her body, shaking her to her core as she lay against the hot concrete.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She could hear a voice next to her, deep and gruff yet soft as she felt feather-light touches on her body.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then the darkness finally consumed her.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>The car door slammed behind Johnny as he got out of his Porsche. He could feel the bumpy concrete beneath his boots as he turned, glancing at himself in the car door window. A pleased expression was planted on his face, confidence strong in his dark brown eyes. He let out a satisfied hum at his appearance, running a hand through his wavy black hair before walking away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His eyes glanced around as he stepped onto the sidewalk, looking around for V. This was the place that he was supposed to pick her up, or so he had thought. He didn’t see her anywhere near him, and not on the other side of the street, either.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Confusion grew on Johnny’s face as he pulled out his phone, leaning against the wall of a building next to some alleyway as he brought up his text messages. Sure enough, he was standing right in front of the store that V had said she was waiting for him at. Taking another quick look around, Johnny made sure that he couldn’t see his girlfriend anywhere.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe she meant the same store on a different street? It wasn’t really like her to do something like this on accident, so the rocker quickly sent her a text, simply saying, </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Don’t see you. You’re not standing me up, right?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He thought, as he always did, that his joke was funny, ready for V to text back and realize that she must’ve told him the wrong place. But the response that he instantly got back forced all of Johnny’s humor to immediately drain out of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Message could not be delivered.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>What the fuck? That couldn’t be right. V usually texted in her </span>
  <em>
    <span>head, </span>
  </em>
  <span>there was no way that she couldn’t have gotten his text. Johnny squinted at his phone, a strange feeling beginning to pool in his stomach as he called V.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Hey, it’s V! Sorry that I can’t come to the phone right now, I’m prolly busy... or sleeping, haha. Leave me a message and I’ll call you back as soon as I can, okay?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“The fuck, V?” Johnny breathed out. Her phone never went straight to voicemail, not without at least ringing a few times. The man looked around him again, bringing his phone away from his ear a little as he turned to his left. He swore he heard some scuffling coming from the alley next to him. Maybe V was waiting for him down there?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It seemed like a weird stretch, but Johnny still went with it as he hung up his phone and put it back in his pocket before turning down the alleyway. He looked down it for a second before freezing, his eyes widening and anger quickly coursing through his veins as he registered the horrifying sight he was seeing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A few feet away from him, V—</span>
  <em>
    <span>his</span>
  </em>
  <span> V, his </span>
  <em>
    <span>little merc</span>
  </em>
  <span>—was being held up against the wall of a building by two hands around her throat, her feet completely off of the ground and her eyes fluttering shut. The rocker instantly recognized the owner of those hands, that fucking Voodoo Boys cunt, Placide—he had tried to kill V before and now he was trying to do it again, and Johnny?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, he couldn’t just stand by and let the prick</span>
  <em>
    <span> live, </span>
  </em>
  <span>right?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Placide turned towards him, seeming to notice Johnny’s presence, but before he could even blink, Johnny pulled out his pistol and squeezed the trigger without a second thought. The bullet soared straight into the motherfucker’s head, and Johnny watched as the life drained out of his eyes and he fell to the ground with a loud </span>
  <em>
    <span>thump.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>V followed immediately, the source of what was holding her up now lifeless. Johnny sprinted right over to her, roughly pushing Placide’s body further away as he kneeled down next to his girl. Her dark emerald eyes were open as she coughed terribly, her whole body trembling and the sounds escaping her sounding more like gags. Johnny noticed how her eyes weren’t looking at him, though, or anything specific, for that matter, but rather staring off blankly into space.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Violet, baby, fuck, </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Jesus fuckin’ </span>
  <em>
    <span>Christ</span>
  </em>
  <span>–” Johnny rambled, bringing his hands to V and touching her shoulder and waist as gently as he could manage. There were tearstains on her cheeks and blood covering her chin and blue-tainted lips, along with dark bruises already blooming on her face and arms, one of which was pointed in what was definitely a bad fucking angle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He should shoot the bitch again. Pump more and more and </span>
  <em>
    <span>more</span>
  </em>
  <span> lead into the piece of shit’s body until he wasn’t even recognizable, just scraps of chrome and skin and blood. But Johnny couldn’t bring himself to do it, not when V was in so much fucking pain and he couldn’t bear to take his eyes off of her, let her out of his sight for</span>
  <em>
    <span> one goddamn second.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, V’s eyes closed, her coughs stopping and her body going limp, and nothing could describe the utter sense of panic that took over Johnny at the sight. His heart was on the verge of beating out of his chest, his breathing practically coming to a stop. “No, no, no,</span>
  <em>
    <span> hey, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Violet, fuckin’—don’t do this, c’mon—</span>
  <em>
    <span>shit</span>
  </em>
  <span>–”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His organic hand instantly reached for her neck, minding the hand-shaped bruises forming as he gingerly felt for her pulse point. As he stared at the girl in his arms, he couldn’t help but see another girl there, too, this time a blonde with brighter, unforgiving green eyes and a blank look on her face and red lights creating a halo around her as Johnny realized that she was gone, she was </span>
  <em>
    <span>gone</span>
  </em>
  <span> and it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>his</span>
  </em>
  <span> fault and she was never coming back because he had fucked up and now he did it again because he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>Johnny fucking Silverhand, </span>
  </em>
  <span>the man who always hurt the people he loved and—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, thank </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” It was barely there, but Johnny could feel the weak beating of V’s pulse under his calloused fingers. His breathing returned, letting out a shaky breath as he tried to think. V was</span>
  <em>
    <span> hurt,</span>
  </em>
  <span> she needed </span>
  <em>
    <span>help</span>
  </em>
  <span>—a ripperdoc, Vik, Misty. He needed to go there.</span>
  <em>
    <span> Now.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Johnny wrapped his arms around the merc, his metal one around her back and his organic one under her knees, before standing up and carrying her bridal style with her head resting against his chest. Even though she was unconscious, V’s body still flinched at the solid contact, her eyelids fluttering slightly. Johnny looked down at her with guilt, practically feeling her pain. “I know, darlin’, ‘m sorry,” he whispered to her and he truly was so, </span>
  <em>
    <span>so fucking sorry,</span>
  </em>
  <span> but also so goddamned full of rage that he was surprised that his vision wasn’t full of nothing but red.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He walked as fast as he could back to the Porsche, pushing past people on the sidewalk and not giving a shit about anything except his girl. Johnny quickly opened the passenger side door, softly letting V down on the seat and clicking the buckle into place. He didn’t want to risk her getting hurt anymore, not if he could help it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Johnny got into the driver’s seat, swiftly putting the car into reverse and swerving backgrounds, someone behind him yelling about him almost hitting him. He didn’t even bother to look back, though, as he sped away, worry wrapped around him like a blanket.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The rocker swore that he had never run so many red lights in his life, his eyes constantly flickering back and forth between his out cold girlfriend and the busy roads. He got to Urmland Street in a matter of minutes—it felt like fucking</span>
  <em>
    <span> hours,</span>
  </em>
  <span> though—poorly parking the car next to the sidewalk and jumping out. He ran to the other side, opening the door and picking V up once more. Her body felt so heavy in his arms yet so light at the same time, like at the moment she was fragile in a way, </span>
  <em>
    <span>much</span>
  </em>
  <span> too fragile for Johnny’s liking. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Johnny’s legs felt weak beneath him as he paced, his breaths shallow. He tried telling himself that everythings was going to be fine, that Vik was gonna patch V up and she’d be back in preem shape in a day or two, but it was so hard to believe that as he held her bruised and beaten up body in his arms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once he got to Misty’s shop, he leaned back slightly so that he could let go of V’s back for a second and swing the door open. He immediately put his arm back around her, stepping into the store and the door closing behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Misty’s head snapped up at the slam of the door, but any trace of annoyance instantly left her face as the sight of a panicked Johnny holding a bloodied, unconscious V sunk in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“God, Johnny, what happened?” Misty asked, concern thick in her voice as she stood up from her desk and walked over to the couple. Her hand reached up to V’s face, softly cupping it as she inspected the brunette’s wounds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This fuckin’ piece of shit Voodoo Boy, he just—I found ‘em and he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>chokin’ </span>
  </em>
  <span>her, and she—shit, I don’t even know.” Johnny’s words tumbled over each other, the man unable to give the blonde a coherent answer. He was seething with anger, with a nervous energy stirred in, and it was making him impatient as all hell. “Just—where the fuck is Vik?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Misty looked up at him, recognizing the panic in his eyes that he was trying so desperately to hold back. It took her a second to compose herself, nodding before beginning to lead Johnny the way to the ripperdoc’s clinic. “We’re lucky he’s not seeing anyone right now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Johnny pulled V closer to his chest as he followed Misty, the pair going outside and down the stairs to Vik’s space. Misty led the way, opening the gate as Johnny carried V and his jaw clenched uncomfortably. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Vik,” Misty called out to the man. He was sitting at his little work area, twiddling with the tech on his hand as he watched some boxing fight on the television on his desk. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Misty,” Vik friendly greeted the girl, a small smile on his face as he looked up. His grin soon vanished, though, as he laid his eyes on Johnny and V in his arms. He immediately stood up, walking over to the couple as Misty walked to some shelves and started grabbing some medicine. “What the hell happened?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“VDB bastard, that’s what happened,” Johnny seethed, going over to the chair in the middle of the room and gently laying his girlfriend on it. Vik’s eyebrows furrowed, his face full of confusion and fret. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” Vik questioned, walking over to V and beginning to inspect her injuries. His eyes traced the bruises on her face and neck, moving down to her mangled arm and swollen ankle. There were spots of dirt and blood covering her shirt, which was raised the tiniest bit as to reveal dark spots on her midsection. Johnny tried his best not to look at her injuries, instead lightly brushing her hair out of her face with his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Johnny said a Voodoo Boy got her,” Misty said, dropping a few bottles of meds onto the cart next to the chair. Vik cursed under his breath, softly but firmly grabbing V’s left wrist. He pulled out her jack and connected it to his machine to the side, quickly pulling down the screen and reading her diagnostics.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Got a virus, a bad one,” Vik told them, shaking his head a little. That was no surprise due to the Voodoo Boys’ reputation, and it explained why V got beat up so bad. She had been fucked with, like that was fair in any damn way. “It’ll take a minute for me to kick it outta her system.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay… okay, just do what you gotta do,” Johnny responded, rubbing the side of his face exhaustively with his chrome hand as he continued to stare at V. Vik looked away from his screen, giving Misty a look that Johnny didn’t catch. She nodded her head in understanding, walking over to Johnny and putting a hand on his shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s give Vik some space to work, Johnny,” the girl kindly said, giving the man a smile. Johnny didn’t return the gesture, however, instead shrugging her hand off of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ain’t leavin’ her.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s gonna be just fine, kid,” Vik told the rocker, typing something into the computer as he spoke. Johnny sharply turned around, annoyance clear on his face. His girlfriend was fucking hurt and these two just expected him to up and </span>
  <em>
    <span>leave</span>
  </em>
  <span> her?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Listen, </span>
  <em>
    <span>doc,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” the man spat out, “you don’t–”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Johnny,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Misty said his name again, this time much more sternly. “V’s in the best hands you could ask for. Vik’ll take care of her.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vik turned to look at Johnny, seeming to be holding himself back from saying something. He looked a little irritated with the way that Johnny was acting, but also, if anything, there seemed to be some pity within his brown irises. Johnny stared back at the ripperdoc, inhaling deeply before letting out a huff and shaking his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuckin’ better,” was all he said through gritted teeth, walking over to the other side of the room. In the corner of his eye, Johnny saw a hanging punching bag and it took all of his strength to not go over and take a fucking swing at it. Instead, he leaned against the gate, the metal creaking slightly under his weight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fuck. He wanted a smoke </span>
  <em>
    <span>bad.</span>
  </em>
  <span> But he couldn’t have one, because V was helping him quit and he didn’t want to disappoint her—especially not fucking</span>
  <em>
    <span> now</span>
  </em>
  <span>—no matter how bad the cravings got at some points.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So Johnny just stood there, crossing his arms against his chest and watching Vik fix up his girlfriend, Misty helping when needed, and all the while he tried to calm his shaking hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After about an hour that was comprised of Misty trying to comfort Johnny when she could by having him help her pick out a new shirt for V to wear—he chose a rose pink tank top with little moons on it because he knew that V would like the color and Misty didn’t mind letting her borrow it—and simply telling him, “She’s gonna be okay, Johnny.” He didn’t really believe her, though, not until Vik let him back near his merc and told him that he was all done.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Here,” Vik said before holding out two bottles of pills to Johnny: one with little red pills in it and the other with slightly bigger white ones. “Make sure she takes two of these thirty minutes after eatin’ somethin’, then one of these before she goes to sleep tonight,” he explained, shaking the bottles when necessary to show which ones he was talking about. “Got it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, yeah, got it,” Johnny answered, taking the capsules from Vik and slipping them into his pockets. He looked away from the ripper, taking a deep breath before looking over V once again. All the blood on her face had been cleaned off, any wounds, along with her broken arm and ankle, had been wrapped up in white bandages. The bruises remained, of course, and Johnny felt sick looking at the hand-shaped outlines on the brunette’s neck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened to the guy who did this to her?” Vik questioned, his voice quieter and a little lower than before. Misty had already left the room, though, having been forced to go back upstairs to look after the shop.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Johnny didn’t look up, just kept on staring at his sleeping girlfriend before responding, “Left his body in an alleyway.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To the rocker’s surprise, he felt a hand clap onto his right shoulder. He looked up at Vik, the doc having a satisfied look on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not that I like </span>
  <em>
    <span>any</span>
  </em>
  <span> of this, but… I’m glad to hear that, honestly,” Vik told him, his eyes glancing down in worry at V. Johnny remembered hearing the way V thought about Vik back when he was still just an engram—well, she even talked about it a few times to him now, after everything. Vik was like a father to her and it was pretty evident that he felt the same way. Thank fuck V had people like him and Misty in her corner.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now,” Vik said, patting his shoulder once more before letting go, “go take care of her for us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Johnny gave him a nod, slowly picking V up. “Wouldn’t dream of doin’ anything else.”</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>V’s eyes slowly opened, nearly fluttering shut as she woke up. The lights around her were easy on her eyes, lit dimly enough so that they didn’t hurt but bright enough that she could still make out objects in the room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It took her a moment, but she soon recognized the living room of hers and Johnny’s apartment. It felt difficult for her to think straight at the moment, though, her mind feeling foggy. She turned her head to the left, and in response to her movement, a familiar, rough hand cupped the right side of her face for a second before its fingers gently ran through her hair in the way she adored so much.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right here, princess,” Johnny’s voice rumbled behind her. The fog in her head cleared up slightly at his words, the merc realizing that she was laying against Johnny, her back against his chest. There was a soft blanket covering up the two of them on the couch and V would have felt as comfortable as ever if it wasn’t for the ache that seemed to be consuming her whole body. It was like every part of her was way too sensitive, with a dull pain throbbing right underneath her skin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wha–” V tried to speak, but was immediately cut off by a weak cough. Her voice was incredibly scratchy and hoarse, practically burning her throat with the attempt. Johnny held her through the small fit, trying to distract her with the fingers combing through her strands of hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t try to talk, V,” he gently told her. Once she had calmed down, she nodded in acknowledgement, forcing herself to take a deep breath. With her head slowly but surely becoming clearer, she had herself pull up her messages and send Johnny a text. Sure enough, a little </span>
  <em>
    <span>buzz</span>
  </em>
  <span> emitted from the coffee table to their left, and Johnny’s chrome arm left her waist to reach for his phone.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“what happened??”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Remember that Voodoo Boys fucker?” Johnny started talking, his voice still soft but anger hiding underneath his tone. “The big one whose life you oh-so kindly spared? Well, seemed like he wanted to return the favor of what you did to his chooms.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Placide. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Jesus, V remembered all of that: Evelyn’s memories leading her to Pacifica, taking the job from Placide, the NetWatch agent telling her how Placide was planning to kill her if she did what he wanted. She had taken the deal with the corpo, believing him and actually ending up being right. In the end, that had caused the death of a lot of Voodoo Boys, including Maman Brigitte, and needless to say, Placide had been fucking pissed. When they fought, though, V couldn’t bring herself to kill him, instead rendering him unconscious and then escaping the building.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>V tried to push the memories back, shifting in place a little and causing the blanket, which had been pulled up to her chest, to move down a little. She glanced down at her right arm, realizing that it was bandaged and in a barely visible sling. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“arm? broken??” </span>
  </em>
  <span>she texted Johnny. She could feel the scruff of his beard against the top of her head as he nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ankle, too. Also gave you a nasty virus, but Vik was able to wipe it,” Johnny explained. V hummed, though no noise came out of her throat. She could remember bits and pieces of the fight, like how her head hurt like hell and she couldn’t see, and then how she could barely breathe because two hands were trying to squeeze the life out of her. Another thought crossed her mind and she quickly texted Johnny again.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“placide?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Zeroed the fucker,” V’s boyfriend answered her, his voice cold. So </span>
  <em>
    <span>that’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> what had happened. She didn’t know how long it had been since then, but guessing by Johnny’s mention of Vik, she must have been out for a while. The corners of her lips turned upwards slightly as she messaged Johnny.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“my hero &lt;3”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, yeah, it was nothin’,” Johnny responded and V swore that she could hear his heartbeat increase slightly at the compliment. The hand in her hair suddenly came to a stop and she could feel Johnny's breaths grow a little uneven. “Look, V… what I saw earlier, with that asshole </span>
  <em>
    <span>touchin’</span>
  </em>
  <span> you like that, I… I couldn’t fuckin’ stand it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Oh shit. Even though he was having trouble saying it—it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>Johnny,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he wasn’t exactly the most emotionally honest person—V understood what he was saying. He got scared, scared for </span>
  <em>
    <span>her</span>
  </em>
  <span> and worried about her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She could still remember feeling him feel that way about her all that time ago when they shared a body. Everytime the relic would malfunction, whenever V got hurt on a job, when they were at Mikoshi. He may not have been able to say it out loud, but V always knew, just like she knew now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>V tilted her head back some, shifting even closer to the rocker as she sent him another text.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“im sorry that i scared you.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“and that i ruined our date.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“... babe, did you seriously just apologize for gettin’ fuckin’ beat up?” Johnny asked, pure disbelief thick in his voice. V let out an empty laugh at that, but the sensation felt more like a dry sob. No tears found their way to her eyes, however, but the fear of everything that had happened began to wash over her. This had been way too close of a call, and if Johnny hadn’t been there—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Everything’s okay now, V,” Johnny softly comforted his girlfriend, seeming to sense her sudden shift in moods. She closed her eyes, inhaling a shaky breath as she turned her head more to the side so that it was right against Johnny’s chest, listening to his solid, </span>
  <em>
    <span>real</span>
  </em>
  <span> heartbeat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>V’s eyes were beginning to close again, exhaustion taking over her, but she made sure to send Johnny one last text before she went back to sleep.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“i love you johnny.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Love you, too, V,” was the last thing V heard, a kiss being planted on the crown of her head before she fell asleep in Johnny’s arms.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i hope you enjoyed! i recently played the main job with placide for myself and since i already knew that placid was more or less messing with v, i took the deal with the netwatch guy. needless to say, getting that text from placide later on scared the shit out of me and thinking about it one night made me come up with this.</p><p>if you wanna see more cyberpunk 2077 content from me and find out ways to support me and get a fic just like this gifted to you, check out my tumblr sideblog <a>here</a>! and if you want to keep up with my writing in general, follow my main blog <a>here</a>! </p><p>have a good day &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>